Apparatus for forming flanged articles



ay 8, 1954 c. c. MCCAIN 2,678,467

APPARATUS FOR FORMING FLANGED ARTICLES Filed Feb. 14, 1951 5 Shets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

, C. C. Mc CAIN BY g Y ATTORNEY May 18, 1954 Filed Feb. 14, 1951 C. C. M CAIN APPARATUS FOR FORMING FLANGED ARTICLES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.4

. INVENTDR. C. G. M0 CAI N BY M ATTORNEY y 8 1 4 c. c. MCCAIN 2,678,467

APPARATUS FOR FORMING FLANGED ARTICLES Filed Feb. 14, 1951 F 5 SheetsSheet 5 IIII FIG. 5

. INVENTOR. o. 0. MG CAIN ATTORNEY May 18. 1954 c. c. MCCAIN APPARATUS FOR FORMING FLANGED ARTICLES Filed Feb. 14, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR: C. 0. Mc CAIN BY ATTORNEY y 8, 1954 c. c. MCCAIN 2,678,467

APPARATUS FOR FORMING FLANGED ARTICLES Filed Feb. 14, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.? v

- 12 L 4| V i FIG,9

62 INVENTOR.

C. 0. Mc CAIN A TTORNEY Patented May 18, 1954 APPARATUS FOR FORMING FLAN GED ARTICLES Cecil 0. McCain, Glen Ellyn, Ill., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 14, 1951, Serial No. 210,842

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for forming flanged articles, and more particularly to apparatus for forming flanged spools from tubular lengths of thermoplastic material with heated rolling elements.

An object of the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for forming flanged articles.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for forming spools from short lengths of thermoplastic material with heated rolling elements.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for automatically feeding an elongated tube of thermoplastic material to heated flanged rolling elements, cutting short lengths off the tube, rolling the short lengths with the heated forming elements to the shape of the spool and ejecting the spool.

In accordance with an apparatus illustrating certain features of the invention, an elongated tube of thermoplastic material is positioned over a forming element having an annular groove therein. The tube is severed to separate the portion on the forming element from the remainder thereof. The exterior clamping elements then are clamped around the short length of thermoplastic material, and the outer and inner clamping elements are shifted axially relative to one another and turned relative to one another to form the plastic material into the annular groove to form it into a flanged spool.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of an apparatus forming a specific embodi ment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which Fig.1 is a perspective view of a spool made by an apparatus forming a specific embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of an apparatus forming a specific embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, vertical section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

,Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, horizontal section taken along line 6--6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical section of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged, vertical section similar to that shown in Fig. '7 with the elements in different positions, and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical section similar to those shown in Figs. '7 and 8 with the elements shown in different positions.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein an apparatus for forming a spool i0 having flanges II and l2 and a tapered drum 13 from a short length cut from a tube l'l composed of a thermoplastic material, such as cellulose butyrate, copolymerized vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate, polyethylene, or the like. This apparatus includes a housing is supporting an electric motor drive [9, which rotates a collet feed 20 by means of a gear 2! (Fig. 4), which meshes with and is slidable with respect to a gear 22. When a collar 25 is moved upwardly with respect to a collar 26, which supports a wedge 21 (Fig. 7) mounted slidably between a collet 28 pinned rigidly to the collar 25 and a guide sleeve 29, the wedge closes the collet 28 on the tube I! to prevent movement of the tube by a tubular weighted guide 36 having a shank portion 3| (Fig. 7) and a stop collar 32 (Fig. 4). That is, whenever there is such relative movement between the collet 2.8 and the wedge 21 that the wedge is down farther on the collet the collet is closed, and the collet is opened on the reverse of such movement. The pin extends transversely of the collet and the collar 25, secures them rigidly together, and projects through longitudinal slots in the wedges and the guide sleeve 29. The guide is slightly shorter than the collet, and is slidable in the upper portion of the collet.

Cams 35 and 36 (Fig. 4) fixed to a cam shaft 31 driven by an electric motor 38 are designed to move the collars 25 and 26 together downwardly a predetermined distance through spring-pressed followers 39 and 40, respectively, and forks 33 and 42, respectively, to feed the lower end of the tube ll over the upper end of a forming spindle 41. The cams hold the collars in these positions while a cam swings against the tube ll, through an adjustable follower it, a cutting blade 41 secured removably to an arm 43 of a yoke 49. The tube ii is rotated by the collet feed, and the bottom portion is severed by the cutting blade. The cam 36 then retracts the collet feed 2t to the position thereof shown in Fig. 4, and the cam 35 lifts the collar 25 therewith. .As the newly created lower end of the tube if is lifted above a stop mounted on an arm 5! of the yoke 49, the cam 45 and the follower it move the stop as under the tube 11. The cam 35 then swings the yoke Al in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, to lift the wedge 21' to release the'oollet 28, and the tube ll drops to the stop 5B (Fig. 9). The cam 35 then swings the yoke 4| in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in view in Fig. 4, to actuate the collet 28 to reclamp the tube.

' The spindle ti is provided with an annular groove 6!? and a capfil forming one edge of the groove. A beveled centering sleeve 62 urged upwardly by a compression spring 63 held on the spindle 4! by a collar 64 centers a ring 65 having a frusto-conical surface 6.6 with respect to the spindle 4| mounted slidably'between a sleeve 61 fastened rigidly to the spindle 4! and the cap 6i. A Stripping sleeve 10 isz'm'ountedslidably'ron the sleeve 55'' and is supported in a bore 'through a pin ll slidably mounted on a push-rod 12 urged downwardly by a spring 13.- againsta bell crank lever 74. The pin H is movable lengthwise through the bore in the push rod 12 butisfixed against movement along the push rod. The pin H I is fixed rigid-1y 'to the strippingzsleevexso*that longitudinal movement 10fthe :push rod :moves the pin ll, which moves the stripping sleeve in the same direction as the pushrod. The-sleeve 6! is secured integrally to a hollow shaft fill mounted rotatably on tbearings -.-8|- 8l, and is offset from the EtX-lSOf-thefhGlIOWShELft. -A-'cam 82 fixed to the :camr-shaft F3] :is designed to "actuate acamfollower T83 "to swing a gear segment 84 to rotate the shaft fillthrough argear 85 fixed thereto. When :the hollow shaft 80 is rotated, it revolves the spindle 4 I and ithe sleeves ti -and it about the axis of the hollow shaft, th pin H being mounted in a=slot:86 formed in the shaftSO.

YA supporting plate 90 mounted pivotally'on a post-9! (Fig, 5), supportsarcuatejaws 92-92 slidably thereon. The jaws 92-92 may beslid radially inwardly with respect to "the centeruof arcuate gripping surfaces 93-93 formed thereon, by means .of acamming-ring 84 .provided with camslots 95-.95 to force 1pins- 9.696rsecured.to jaws 2-92 radially inwardly. The-ring .94:.may be turned by a spring-pressed cam ..follower .191 to move the pins .96.9B.nadially inwardly. II'he follower .5? is operablebya. cam Hi0. fixed to. the

cam shaft 3? .to turn the.-ring..94 in. a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in .Fig. 5. The plate L90 .maybe swung in a..counter-.clockwise direction, as viewefdin Fig. 6,.around the..postl9l .by means of a cam IOI .andacam follower 102 against the action of tension spring I03 toushift the jaws $32-$22 from their position .shown .in Fig. 5, in which the jaws '9292 arecentered on thecap 6i andthe spindle 4|, to thepositions thereof in whichthe. jaws are centered with respect to the axis of .the hollow shaft '80 and the cam Hit keeps the jaws 92-92 closed on the tube at this time. It isv atthis time thatthe cam182 becomes operative to .swing .the .gear.segment' 84 to rotate the hollow-shaft..80 whichmota'tionrevolves the spindle ii about the axis of the shaft 80, and the jaws 92'92.enter between .the tube 6'! and the disc El to. form flanges .on the tubing.

Electricalheating element. I 10. mounted on the jaws 9*% keep the jaws.9.292 suificientlyhot that the thermoplastic material is softened .sufficiently to be deformable and set into as flanges, and to form the central. portion of the tube which isheld between the jaws 9Z-92 and the ring 65 into frusto-conical .s'hape. The .arcuate clamp ing surfaces 93-93 serve .to form a frustrum Which-is parallel to thejfrusto-conical surface 65 .of the ring 65. 'L'Ihecam It then actuates the .camfollower N12 .to swing. the..plate 90 back to a position in which .-.the.:.-jaws .92--92 are contered on thespindleM .whichhas' been indexed at this time by return movementof the gear segment 80, and the cam I actuates the cam follower 91 to rotate the camming ring 94' in a clockwise direction to move the jaws 92-92 away from the spindle 4|. The beveled sleeve 62 then holds :the ring 65 in a'centered position relative to the spindle 4!, and a cam 1 I4 urges the cam follower H to the left, as viewed in Fig. 4, to

= :force the stripping sleeve upwardly to move out of the-apparatus. tl'2liimaintainsfthespindle 4| at a temperature ijustr sufficient to' so'ften the thermoplastic material and ,permitit to be formed without making the material tacky. A satisfactory temperature forsoellulose butyrate has been found to be in the order of 200 F. while the melting point of the material formed was roughly300 F.

Oi e ration 'fThecolletfeed'Zii gripping the tube ll is'move'd downwardly to move the lower end of the tube I! over the spindle 4!, and the :cam swings the .yoke '49 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. '5, about the post 9! to move the blade fl to.cuttin g engagement with the tube 11, which is being rotated by the collet feed .28. Theblade Q'Tseversthe tube completely and the colletfee'cl is retracted. The cam 45 and'follower 46 then actuate thelyoke 49 to move the bladed! and the stop in counter-clockwise directions, as viewed in Fig. '5, until the stop '59 is under the tube .11. Meanwhile the cam Hit actuates the ring '94 to, move the heated jaws-'92-92 into grippingengagement with the central portion of the lengthof th tube of the thermoplastic material left on the spindle 4|, and grips this portion against the "ring 85 to form the gripped portion 'of the-tubing into afrustrum.

The cam Iill 'then actuatesthe cam'follower I02 to swing the supporting plate 9|] in acounterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, andthis i, swings the jaws 92- 92 and'thering from the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 8, in which they are centered on the spindle M, to the positions'in which they are shown in Fig. Sin which they are centered "on the hollow shaft and are off-center with respect to the spindle 41. The 'cam82' then actuates the gear segment 84 to rotate the hollow shaftBS for'a predetermined 7 number of revolutions, for example, three revolutions. The jaws 82.92 incrementally enter the cap 6i and the sleeve .67 to draw the tubing into the flanges. Thegear segment'84 then is spring- .returned --to.return .the spindle to its previously indexedstartingposition. The follower 102 then is permitted by the cam iill to return the jaws 92.!i2 .to positions centered on the spindle 4!, and the cam i5,permits the follower it to move the ringQAto its releasing position in Whichthe jaws 92.'92 have been retracted from the flanged spool. The cam H4 then actuates the camfollower H5 to raise the sleeve through the bell crank..lever l4 and the rod '12 to lift theformed spool off the spindle 4i, and also actuatesthe air valve to send ,ablast of air through the nozzle '1 I6 to remove the'formed spool to asuitable r.eceptacle (not shown).

.It.is to be understood-that theabove-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. fNumerous other arrangements maybe readily devised by those skilled in the art which will em.-

body the principles of the invention and fall Within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for forming flanged articles, which comprises a cylindrical element having an annular groove therein, a forming element having a shoulder thereon, means for locating a sheet-like, flexible tube composed of thermoplastic material around the groove, a collar having the same external diameter as the groove and a thickness substantially less than the depth of the groove fitting slidably into the groove, an external former for pressing a portion of the flexible tube into the groove to form flanges on the tube, and means for creating relative revolving movement between the tube and the cylindrical element on the one hand and the former on the other hand.

2. An apparatus for forming flanged articles, which comprises a spindle having a groove therein, means for feeding a tube onto the spindle, means for cutting off a length of the tube positioned on the spindle, segmental jaws for gripping the cut-off portion of the tube extending along the groove, means for shifting one of the laws and the spindle off-center with respect to the other, means for revolving one of the spindles and the jaws with respect to the other to roll the cut-off portion of the tube into the groove, a backing ring mounted slidably in the groove in the spindle, means urging the ring toward a portion centered with respect to the spindle, and a sleeve mounted slidably on the spindle for stripping the cut-off portion of the tube from the spindle.

3. An apparatus for forming flanged spools, which comprises a spindle having an annular groove therein, a backing ring mounted slidably and rotatably in the groove, arcuate jaws for clam-ping a tube against the backing ring and for entering the groove in the spindle, a stripping sleeve mounted slidably on the spindle, means for closing the jaws, means for shifting the jaws to positions centered on an axis off-center from the spindle, means for revolving the spindle about said axis, means for heating the jaws, means for heating the spindle, a collet for gripping a tube, means for moving the collet toward the spindle to feed the end of the tube over the spindle, means for severing the tube between the collet and the spindle, means for retracting the collet aft r the tube has been out, means for feeding the tube along the collet after it has been retracted, and means for gaging the feed of the tube.

4. An apparatus for forming flanged articles, which comprises a spindle having a groove theresser means cooperative with the spindle for rolling a short length of tubing into a spool, collet means spaced from one end of the spindle, means for moving the collet means toward the spindle to feed the end portion of a long length of tubing held by the collet means over the spindle, a yoke bracketing the long length of portion of the tubing between the spindle and the collet means, a cutter mounted on one arm of tr e yoke, a stop mounted on the other arm of the yoke, means for actuating the yoke to move the long length of cutter into engagement with the tubing to sever the length of tubing to form two lengths thereof, means for moving the collet away from the spindle to separate the lengths thereof formed by the cutter, means for actuating the yoke to move the stop between said lengths of tubing, and means for feeding the portion of the length of tubing in the collet along the collet to the stop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 885,131 Baker Apr. 21, 1908 986,995 Keyes Mar. 14, 1911 1,740,792 S'trachauer et a1. Dec. 24, 1929 1,776,883 Clark Sept. 30, 1930 2,034,731 Saalbach Mar. 24, 1936 2,215,845 Williams Sept. 24, 1940 2,442,965 Thomas June 8, 1948 

